Legacy Namikaze
by JustANha
Summary: Post Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Upset by the treatment of Konoha, Naruto decides to cut his losses and framed his death on a mission. A few years later, Akatsuki is on the move- along with a mysterious organization led by a boy holding an eerie resemblance with the deceased blonde. Parings undecided. Smart!Naruto but not Godlike!Naruto
1. Chapter 1: Discovery

**Title:** Legacy Namikaze

**Summary:** Post Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Upset by the treatment of Konoha, Naruto decides to cut his losses and framed his death on a mission. A few years later, Akatsuki is on the move- along with a mysterious organization led by a boy holding an eerie resemblance with the deceased blonde. Parings undecided.

**A/N:** This is my first attempt at a fic so be kind haha. In this fic, Naruto is portrayed as smarter (No, not SuperStrong!Naruto) but tactically more intelligent. There will be some grammar errors but I will try to fix them up- indicating where they are and constructive criticism are appreciated! This is an extremely short chapter- only about 1, 600 words but that is because it is more of an introduction. This chapter is sorta strange but bear with me it gets better okay?

**Disclaimer:** I would try to bribe Naruto into my possession but continuing the series would be a problem, so for now, Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. (Haha, just you wait Kishimoto! It will be mine soon!)

"Talking" _'Thoughts' _**"Biju speaking/shouting"**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Discovery**

All his life, Naruto had yearned for respect and affection. The glares and the whispers and scorn never affected the jinchūriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko. Not outwardly anyway. Despite what people thought, he wasn't stupid. He was aware that he was dense at times and by no means was he the smartest of the generation either. And what Naruto knew was that he was smarter than he let on. Naruto would by no means consider himself a prodigy and learning from scrolls and books took a lot more effort on his part than one usually would. It was on the field his quick thinking to conjure up terribly effective plans made him what one would call a battle genius.

Genius- he hated the word. It only served to place people on a pedestal and let others look an in awe at as they excelled ahead of their peers as many looked on in jealousy. Dead last, a common label regularly associated with the blonde. To Uzumaki Naruto, he could care less. Growing up people thought of him as a prankster and trouble maker. And for him, it was always easier to pretend, play along with what people expected of him and no one would be the wiser.

Regardless of his happy-go-lucky attitude, he was not blind to the villagers hate and accusation towards him either. For him, it was just easier to ignore and keep on smiling- act like nothing happened and continue on his merry way. He thought that after time, the glares would lessen and dislike of him would minimise but bringing (in this case dragging) back a bloody and beat up Uchiha through the front gates of Konoha seemed to give them all the more reason to show their animosity towards the poor boy. He hated it.

He was an orphan, a jinchūriki, a 'monster', a 'demon'. All he wanted was love. Was it too much to ask for?

To the civilians of Konoha- it was.

* * *

"Dobe." Naruto barely spared his teammate a glance as he continued to guzzle down the multiple bowls of ramen Iruka-sensei and 'Baa-chan' had kindly bought for him, it seemed that his appetite did not diminish even though he was in the hospital.

After several minutes of silence (with the exception of slurping noises) Naruto put down the final bowl of ramen before huffing a reply, "What now Sasuke-Teme?"

"Hn."

"Don't 'hn' me! Gah, what is it with you and your monosyllables? Can't you even hold a simple conversation?"

"I never knew monosyllables was in your vocabulary in the first place, seems surprising that you even know how to use it in a proper context," The raven replied shortly, much to the growing irritation of the blond. Obviously, it wasn't a good idea to place two ninjas in the same hospital room considering only days before they had tried to kill each other.

Naruto was about to give an angry retort when the door slid open, revealing the nurse that was supposedly looking after them. She directed a cold stare to the blonde, "_Brat_. You're free to go once you have a last checkup. It's with Shizune-" She was abruptly cut off by a cheer from the blond boy.

"Yes! Y'know you should've released me earlier because it was so boring with the Teme, he doesn't even hold a decent conversation! Oh, and tell Baa-chan thanks for the ramen dattebayo!" He rambled while throwing off the thin white covers and dashing out of the room.

The nurse then turned towards the room's other occupant; "Now then, I hope that _dem-_boy wasn't too disturbing." She smiled pleasantly towards the Uchiha before muttering curses after the blonde boy and took off, heels clacking noisily down the hospital hallway leaving a puzzled Sasuke.

"What type of prank did the dobe pull to anger the staff that much?" He asked incredulously.

* * *

As Naruto walked through the streets of Konoha back towards his apartment he kept a large smile on and strode through as confidently as possible.

"Sweety, don't go near _him_, you heard what the _demon_ did to the poor Uchiha- imagine what he would do to you so be careful," A mother said as she steered her child away from the jinchūriki while giving him a heated glare.

"I bet it was _his_ fault the Uchiha left, who would stand being around him…" Another sneered as they gave an 'accidental' shove to the boy.

'_They would never understand,'_ Naruto thought glumly to himself as he continued smiling all the while on the outside. _'It hurts…'_

_THWACK._

Naruto stumbled slightly as he felt a rock make contact with the back of his head as he heard quiet snickers and murmurs around him. He brought his hand up to his head and supressed a sigh as he saw blood on his hand before taking a sharp turn into a deserted alley and deciding to travel via roofs.

"Always, always my fault," Naruto mumbled. "Can't they see that the kunai is not the scroll in which it is sealed? Oh wait- civilians wouldn't know the workings of fuinjutsu (Sealing), my bad." He told himself sarcastically.

Naruto soon found himself in front of the Hokage Mountain. Gazing up he suppressed a wave of nostalgia.

_"My face will be on that mountain one day! Just you wait old man dattebayo!" Naruto aged 8 had declared to the Sandaime and grandfather figure._

_"Yes, I know you will." The Hokage had replied to the boy. "But for now, will you be forgiving of the villagers?"_

_Naruto frowned slightly as he subconsciously rubbed his injured shoulder from the attacks. "S'pose I will, it'll be my first step to becomin' Hokage!"_

_The elderly man laughed good-naturedly. "Jiji, why do they…y'know, hate me so much?"_

_Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled sadly. "They are idiotic and blinded by their stupidity Naruto, remember that whatever happens, never think of yourself as either a demon or a monster."_

_"Will do!" The blond chirped in reply._

Naruto let his face go blank as his thoughts took a darker turn.

_"Monster."_

_"Demon."_

_"Murderer."_

Over the years Naruto had learnt to forgive the civilians. Yet, every now and then he would feel the lingering touch of hate overcome him.

_"I'm not a monster!" A badly beaten Uzumaki Naruto shouted._

_"Well? Who are you then?" the mob had sneered._

_"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm gonna be the strongest Hokage of Konoha! Believe it!" _

_"Don't try to fool us you murderer."_

_"I'm not!" The blonde had protested, "I didn't kill anyone I swear!"_

_Yet the crowd had not listened. It was that Naruto learned the hard way- crying got him nowhere and labelled as weak and a crybaby. It was easier to play the fool._

Soon Naruto had reached the top of the Yondaime's head. He was tired and emotionally drained. Sleepy, Naruto leant against the mountain was he sat atop the Yondaime's head and let sleep overcome him.

It was a couple of hours later he woke and after a few minutes of internal debating, decided to head back to his apartment. Unfortunately (Or fortunately as Naruto later found out), there was a large rock in the way as Naruto made his way off the Yondaime's head in which the rock helped Naruto get friendly with the ground beneath him- by tripping and consequently faceplanting him.

"Well shit," he swore as he brushed himself off before picking up the rock and attempting to fling it off the Cliffside, key word being attempted. As Naruto was about to hurl the stone, a strange engraving on the bottom of it caught his eye. He peered closer, it wasn't just an engraving and rather it was a seal.

'_A real complex one at that,'_ Naruto thought as he examined it. The markings were extremely accurate and precise, most likely done by a skilled shinobi and he could make out some of the characters. "The characters for 'find', 'track' and 'chakra' are on there, meaning that it's most likely a modified tracking seal…" He recalled listening to Iruka-sensei talking about basic seals and was surprised he could remember the lesson on seals quite clearly.

The blonde frowned, if it was a tracking seal, what was it doing on the bottom of a rock? He felt excitement sparking inside him, "That means it's gotta be here to track another seal with a similar design down!" Looking really closely, he could feel a faint hum run through the rock- it meant the other seal was in a nearby vicinity. Naruto crouched down and ran the rock over sections of the Yondaime's head to see if the humming got any stronger which it did. He stared when the rock came into contact with an area near the back of the top of the Yondaime's head and watched as the rock vibrated violently signalling that obviously the seal's counterpart was there. He continued to observe as the seal markings seemed to peel off the rock and form another seal on the surface nearby.

"Hm, this one has the character for 'blood' and 'family' along with 'heritage' and a binding seal placed on top and secured with another weird seal thing…A blood seal perhaps? But what's it doing here?" Naruto felt his brows furrowing before a grin filled his face. This place was not commonly used in Konoha and he was sure the creator wouldn't mind if Naruto tried out to see if the seal worked. Hand grasping at his upper leg only to find no kunai pouch (seeing as he was recently discharged from the hospital and had left his ninja gear at home) he sighed and bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood. Naruto smeared it over the centre of the seal and waited. And waited. Nothing happened.

Feeling rather disappointed that no explosions or glowing arrays appeared he simply huffed. Not that he was expecting the seal to work but it was worth a try. His train of thought was un-elegantly 'de-railed' when a soft, barely audible hissing could be heard.

"Wha-!" Naruto could only stare at the seal which seemed to now distort before his eyes. The kanji and characters disappeared one by one to be replaced by what appeared to be a summoning array in which a small box of scrolls and and two elegant katana appeared on top.

It wasn't the fact that it worked or the fact that the katana were indescribably breath-taking, no, he stood there gaping at the box which held three neatly inscribed words on the lid:

_To Namikaze Naruto_

* * *

Note: Chapter 2 is done so I'll put it up in a couple of days~

And Done! First chapter up and it's 1.30 am so I should be getting to bed now haha;; There will be more on what happened during the Sasuke Retrieval Mission and yes, in this fic it was successful and Sasuke was brought home by Naruto. This is more or less a starting chappy and the next few will go into detail about Sakura and the rest of the Rookie Nine along with what Naruto plans to do ufufufu. Well, hate it? Like it? Drop a review please? (Try not to flame please though D: 'tis not good) Yeah, no action (how sad) but there will be some coming later on ^^

~Nhazun


	2. Chapter 2: Decisions and Planning

**Title:** Legacy Namikaze

**Summary:** Post Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Upset by the treatment of Konoha, Naruto decides to cut his losses and framed his death on a mission. A few years later, Akatsuki is on the move- along with a mysterious organization led by a boy holding an eerie resemblance with the deceased blonde. Parings undecided.

**A/N:** So here is the (not so long) awaited Chapter 2~ There isn't much action in this one but just read on ok? So, enjoy! (I hope ;) PS: Please read the A/N at the bottom for parings and such!

**Disclaimer:** I had Naruto last night with my noodles and soup…the edible one

"Talking" _'Thoughts' _**"Biju speaking/shouting"**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Decisions and Planning**

Haruno Sakura always prided herself as one of the smartest kunoichi of her generation, yet looking back, she lacked anything 'ninja-ish' other than book smarts. Heck, even the 'dead-last' of the generation had gotten to the final round of the Chunin exam where she had something that resembled a catfight with Ino rather than a proper fight to secure a spot (of which neither did) in the 3rd round of the exam. It was pathetic really, when her 'one true love' Sasuke left, all she did was weep and beg Naruto to bring him back, only to spit on his and the retrieval team's efforts. She felt absolutely horrible.

_Flashback no jutsu_

_She watched as a battered and bloody Naruto carried the limp form of Sasuke through the Konoha gate before rushing up to greet her teammates._

"_Naruto!" The blonde wearily raised his head before allowing a grin to cover his face as he felt his spirits rejuvenate. _

"_Sakura-chan! I told you I'd bring the Teme back and I will never go back on my nindo-ttebayo!" He replied as enthusiastically as possible. _

"_Thank you for bringing Sasuke-kun back," the bubblegum haired girl thanked Naruto before she turned to Sasuke and felt her heart skip a beat. There was blood everywhere and he barely seemed to be breathing- had Naruto done all that damage? She could feel anger at her teammate boil within her and spoke the next words without thinking._

"_I tried my best-" Naruto was abruptly cut off by his crushes next words._

"_What were you thinking? I asked you to bring him back, not to kill him!"_

_Naruto could only stare, "He was a stubborn bastard and wouldn't give up without a figh-"_

"_So you had to incapacitate him this badly? You could have killed him Naruto-baka! If you wanted to impress me then you didn't have to beat Sasuke-kun up so badly!" She shouted angrily at the boy._

"_It wasn't to impress you-"_

"_Lies! I asked you to bring him back, not to do this to him!"_

"_Sakura." Shikamaru's voice intervened in the heated exchange of words (although more one-sided on Sakura's part), "This was a mission, several of us are in critical condition and it was to be expected that we would bring Sasuke back with at least a few injuries."_

_She knew Shikamaru was right but Sakura felt so immensely angry at Naruto, she opened her mouth to apologize but felt her mind go blank. Taking one look at the crestfallen face of her comrade and she felt guilt well up inside her so she fled to her house, pushing through the villagers as she stumbled her way through the crowds and onlookers. Amongst the murmurs, she could hear someone talking, "So the demon decides to take out his anger on his teammate? The poor girl…I always knew he would prove to be too strong and making him a ninja was just asking for trouble."_

'_What?'_

_Flashback no jutsu: Kai!_

She made up her mind, as soon as possible, she would apologize to Naruto. She had acted rashly and she would do everything to make up for it- perhaps allow Naruto to take her out to Ichiraku Ramen.

* * *

Naruto sat contemplating at home. He knew Sakura had not intended what she said and had done it on the spur of the moment but it still hurt. He had learnt to block out the sneers and cold comments directed at him but it got mildly irritating after a while. He had thought about leaving Konoha but never had given it as much thought as now. After his supposedly 'best-friend's' betrayal, he felt unsure of his loyalties to Konoha. He had always held onto the beliefs that sooner or later the villagers and shinobi of Konoha would be forced to acknowledge him. Naruto could count the people that truly cared for him on one hand: (He was oblivious to Hinata's affection towards him)

Tsunade, Jiraya, Teuchi and Ayame from Ichiraku Ramen and Iruka.

Was he really only worth that much? Sure, he had always though himself lucky to have people that cared for him but would his absence truly affect them? Shaking his head sadly he eyed the box and katana in the corner of his room, he had not opened them and considering his name (at least his first name) was on the box, he assured himself that if the blood seal worked, chances were it was meant for him or someone from his family.

Family. The word brought a warm feeling to his chest. '_Maybe, I'll find out who my parents were…"_ He thought to himself but pushed any curiosity regarding the strange artefacts out of his mind. He pulled out an ink brush and a blank scroll and felt his resolve solidify: He wanted to know what it was like outside the village and Konoha would only try to prevent the pariah from wandering too far from Konoha and keep him under a tight leash.

He chuckled mirthlessly to himself, 'How hypocritical of me? Sasuke, if only you knew what I was thinking now after the stunt you pulled.' He thought.

* * *

Timeskip: 3 days later

Naruto sat back and observed his masterpiece of a plan. The fact that he had come up with such a proposal would seem outrageous to his peers and mentors. Even by his standards, the boy felt proud: it was fool proof. He grinned before seamlessly forming two kage-bunshin and gave them instructions. It was only a while longer before his plan came to fruition. He looked up at the figure lingering outside his door.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Naruto, the council requested you be at the meeting to decide Sasuke's sentence, it's at…hmm, 2:30," Kakashi told his student before shunshin-ing away. "Ja ne!"

"WHAT?" Naruto glanced at the clock: 2:31. "…DAMN YOU HATAKE!"

He hurriedly slipped on his beloved orange jacket over his t-shirt and ran towards the Hokage Tower. Upon arriving he stopped outside to catch his breath before nodding to the ANBU outside the room and cautiously pushing the doors open. Naruto swore under his breath as he was the glares of some village representatives and braced himself for the oncoming 'Why-the-heck-were-you-late?' shouts to fill the room.

"Boy," Hyuuga Hiashi started, "You are early."

Naruto spared a look towards the clock hanging above the Hokage's seat. It read 2:45. "What?"

"That's _excuse me_ you impolite dem-I mean brat," a village representative sneered as they corrected themselves on the last word.

Naruto stared confused as Hiashi (He looked like Hinata but had the signature I-have-a-stick-up-my-ass attitude and aura) continued, "The meeting is starting at 3:00."

"But Kakashi-sensei told me it was at…oh my god, he tricked me!" Naruto cried. And to think he ran all the way from his apartment to the Hokage Tower (Which for your information was on the other side of the village) because he was told the wrong time!

"Hatake Kakashi huh…troublesome," Shikaku Nara grumbled as he placed his head back down onto his folded arms on the table.

"Oh! Are you Shika's dad? Because he looks exactly like you!" Naruto questioned the Nara although he already knew. '_Best to keep on the safe side and pretend to be dumb until I can put the plan into motion,'_ Naruto thought.

It was then the Godaime Hokage made her entry into the room. Tsunade Senju was a relatively busty, blonde Hokage who was hailed as the Legendary Medic and part of the Sannin trained by the Sandaime himself. No one really paid any attention when she took a bottle of sake from who-knows-where and took a swig before calling the meeting to attention. "We'll be discussing the Uchiha's punishment after that little stunt he pulled."

"The traitor deserves death for what he did!" Tsume Inuzuka shouted much to the dismay of the civilians.

"You cannot do this!" Haruno Mebuki* cried, "The wretched curse mark was controlling his actions and tainting the poor boy's mind!"

Tsunade glared at the woman. "Kakashi placed a seal on the curse seal Orochimaru gave him and although it did not fully restrain the curse seal, Sasuke would not be affected by it unless he willed. Seeing as he went willingly with the Sound Four, he obviously had made up his mind."

"At least reduce his senten-"

"I suggest you keep your mouth shut, this is a shinobi matter and therefore falls under the Hokage's jurisdiction. In fact, civilians are not meant to be at this meeting so why _are _you here?" Yamaka Inoichi asked. He was by no means bias against Uchiha Sasuke but hearing his daughter talk and gossip on and on about the same one boy got irritating after the four hundredth and seventy fifth time. He probably wouldn't have minded too much if the boy was Nara's kid… (He _did _have the brains and if he wasn't so lazy would make a good shinobi)

"My child, Haruno Sakura is on Uchiha's team so I should be able to have a part in this for the safety of my child!" She protested weakly.

"Nu-uh, not good enough now out, all of you civilians," Naruto hollered while mimicking a shoo-ing motion with his hands towards the door.

Tsunade caught the malicious look on Homura and Koharu's faces as they made to speak. Thankfully she intervened. "You," She indicated towards the elderly pair and Danzo (much to her distaste), "can stay because you are his _guardians."_ Upon seeing the satisfied looks of the advisors, she let out a sigh.

"So, baa-chan, what's gonna happen to Sasuke-teme?" Naruto inquired as he grinned. Gasps of horror echoed through the room, evidentially they had not known his affectionate nickname for the Hokage and were nervously waiting for the wrath of Tsunade to befall the disrespectful boy. None came except a playful whack on the back of the blonde's head.

Naruto tried not to flinch when her hand came into contact with the sore spot from a few days ago as it started to throb painfully. _"Strange," _He thought, why had Kyuubi not healed it by now?

"Continuing on, the usual sentence would be jail-" Tsunade was cut off by Naruto.

"EH! You can't do that dattebayo!" He shouted out.

Chouza frowned, "And why not Uzumaki-san?"

Naruto wracked his brain for anything, "B-because maybe the civilians were right when they said the Teme wasn't in the right state of mind and the curse seal was affecting his though process!"

"And what evidence do you have to back it up?"

"Uh…" Naruto faltered before trying to reason with the plump clan head, "Because in the Forest of Death where Sasuke got the seal thingy-"

"Curse seal." Tsunade corrected Naruto.

"Ah right, curse seal, now where was I up to? Oh yeah, so when Orochimaru bit him he said something creepy like 'Sasuke will soon come to me to seek power' or something along those lines. And I mean, If he went all the way just to give Sasuke the curse seal then he must have been really confident that the seal would work. So the seal could have been really strong and affected Sasuke-teme by implanting thoughts into his head with promises of power." Naruto finished, quite proud of his theory.

Unfortunately Shikaku had to add in his opinion, "Orochimaru didn't just come for Sasuke since he came to invade Konoha hence the Konoha-Oto Invasion and he has been unstable and a flight risk from the beginning. Solitary confinement is a better option if we plan on keeping the Sharingan."

Tsunade rubbed her temples, "Although protocol would lead to confinement, as much as I want to do that, the seal is an unknown factor so we'll have to wait for Jiraya to come back but for now I say that he is placed under house arrest to be watched extremely carefully and is forbidden to travel outside Konoha borders unless supervised by an authorised Jounin or higher. And he will be required to make weekly visits to a psychiatrist. Inoichi, he's all yours and I expect a fortnightly report on his mental stability- we don't want something like this happening again."

"Tsunade," Danzo spoke rudely lacking any honorifics at the end of her name, "I would like to be put in charge of the Uchiha's training because he could become a great asset to Konoha's forces."

"That's Hokage-_sama _to you Danzo, don't make me strip you of your position," Tsunade threatened knowing it was empty- Danzo had control of Ne (Root) and it was too risky to take his position away when the village was just recovering from war-time actions.

"Baa-channnn," Naruto whined feeling the tense atmosphere, "Can I go now? Iruka-sensei promised to take me out to ramen and I'm hungry!"

The Hokage chuckled, "Everyone dismissed then." She said before striding out the door (not before opening it and nearly ripping it off its hinges) and calling Shizune. "Shizune! I need sake!

* * *

It was late afternoon when Naruto arrived back at his apartment; he had taken several detours in order to avoid the civilians and some shinobi that disliked him in order to get home. It didn't help that his home was situated in the centre of the red light district, although the citizens there were friendly and understanding to him there was always some sort of crime or explicit actions happening every second alley. He knew Konoha like the back of his hand, being forced to grow up in less than pleasant areas and conditions, heck, he had even been to Training Ground 44 before (though he was admittedly frightened and more than reluctant to explore).

The boy sat down at his battered table and examined the box and katana he had picked up a few days earlier. He decided to look at the swords first- one seemed to be short and dagger-like in appearance, it had a white sheath with silver engravings running from the top of the sheath to half way down, only to split into an elegant design of an animal (Naruto wasn't sure if it was a hybrid of some sort because he couldn't discern what type of animal it was) that held a close resemblance to a box and wolf intertwined in what seemed a deadly battle. It was the blade of the short-katana that fascinated Naruto: It was completely black. At a closer glance, however, there seemed to be barely visible silvery etchings on it. _'Seals,'_ Naruto thought, '_What are they doing on the blade though?'_

The longer blade proved a disappointment apart from the design on the sheath that had a reverse colour scheme of the short blade, Naruto tried to draw the blade but it remained solidly attached to the sheath. As much as he pulled and tugged at the guard, it seemed to remain stuck fast. He had assumed that the blades were to be used in conjunction with each other but how could he use them if he couldn't even unsheathe one?

So it was that Naruto found himself staring at the box. It was nothing special in appearance compared to the swords from before- lacquered wood and rather small in size, most likely only able to contain a few items or scrolls. The name puzzled him- what if it wasn't meant for him? He knew Naruto was an extremely rare name, not to say that no-one else had it but even in Konoha the chances that there was another Naruto about were close to nil. He drew in a deep breath and slid open the lid.

Naruto wasn't expecting anything grand but the sight of some old scrolls seemed to make Naruto's spirits wither a bit. What if they were jutsu scrolls? He brightened up at the prospect and grabbed one. There was a seal on it and he wasted no time on making a small cut on his thumb and letting it drop onto the seal. To his dismay letters formed around the seal that made out: _Not until you are 16._

"What?" Naruto asked no-one in particular, "What does it mean that I can't open it until I'm sixteen? That's unfair!" He scowled and picked up the second scroll before repeating the process from before. This time the kanji burned away and Naruto watched as the scroll slowly unfurled. He read.

_Dear Naruto,_

_Hah, I'm no good with being all super formal. It's me, your mum. _

_You are probably wondering, who am I? Well if you are reading this then Sarutobi-sama must have given you these scrolls. But firstly, your father and I have to apologize; after all, if you are reading this then we are dead. I can't imagine how hard it must be growing up on your own though I hope that Sarutobi-sama has assigned someone to look after you. I can't tell you about your dad- the second scroll is from him but for safety reasons (He had and still has a lot of enemies, Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village) in particular.) When you turn 16, hopefully you are strong enough to know who he is and can defend yourself from those who hold a grudge against our family. _

_Though I can tell you a bit about me. I came from Uzushiogakure, also known as the Village Hidden by Whirling Tides. We were renowned for our long lives and given the name Chōju no Sato. (The Village of Longevity). We were renowned for sealing as well, but it led to the downfall of the clan and me being one of the survivors became a kunoichi of Konoha.I wasn't called the Akai Chishio no Habanero (Hot-blooded Habanero) for nothing! I was sent off to the Konoha academy before the destruction of Uzu though. Did you know that the Uzumaki spiral was placed on flak jackets as a symbol of goodwill between the Senju clan and Uzu. _

_You probably know about the Kyuubi no Yoko sealed inside you by now and you weren't the first Jinchūriki (Power of Human Sacrifice) of the Kyuubi. I was the vessel for the Kyuubi before it was sealed into you, you have no ideas how traumatized I felt learning that I was sent to Konoha because my special chakra made me suited to be the Jinchūriki of the nine tailed fox. _

_The tantō and tachi are from your father and I. When you've achieved mastery over the tantō you'll be able to wield the tachi with it. There is another scroll sealed at the bottom of this containing many jutsu, I'm sure you'll you it wisely though some will be restricted until you meet a certain condition._

_You are going to and have received a lot of pain and suffering. Remember who you are- find a gola, a dream and don't stop until it comes true. Don't give up until the very end. Never think you aren't loved, your father and I love you so much, you have no idea how happy we were to find out I was pregnant!_

_Remember that you will always, always be my precious son, Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto._

_-Uzumaki Namikaze Kushina_

"I do have parents…why wasn't I ever told?" Naruto said at last. _'And they loved me too,'_ he added silently. He glanced back to the swords, tachi and tantō, so it wasn't a long and short katana. He shrugged before channelling chakra into the seal, a large scroll that looked oddly familiar appeared in a cloud of smoke above it. Curious, Naruto opened it before shouting out in surprise. "What the- It's a copy of the Fūin no Sho! (Scroll of Sealing) And it has the uses of Kage-bunshin too!" Grinning, he closed the scroll and re-sealed it before hiding the box and swords under a section of loose floorboarding.

"Namikaze…my dad's name," Naruto began, "It has a nice ring to it."

He grinned, "I like it."

* * *

A/N: Done! *Sakura's parents' names are revealed as Kizashi and Mebuki in one of the magazines by Kishimoto. Her mum has blonde hair and her dad has pink hair. This is around 2,000 words longer than chapter 1, they will get longer I promise. You'll see what Naruto has planned next and there will be some action in there too. I hope I didn't make them too OOC and apologies if I did. His is currently unaware his dad is the Yondaime but has his suspicions. And so: Who should he be paired with? You can vote for any female that is not from Konoha. *le gasps I know* This is because it will interfere with the plot. (If there are a lot of votes I can try but please try not to) so no Naru/hina, Naru/saku etc. sorry.

~Nhazun


	3. Chapter 3: Plans into motion

**Title:** Legacy Namikaze

**Summary:** Post Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Upset by the treatment of Konoha, Naruto decides to cut his losses and framed his death on a mission. A few years later, Akatsuki is on the move- along with a mysterious organization led by a boy holding an eerie resemblance with the deceased blonde. Parings undecided.

**A/N:** Chapter 3 of Legacy Namikaze. Please vote for a paring (and there will be other pairings to vote for too.) No, it will not be a harem. **You can vote for any female ruling out those from Konoha. **And yes, I am aware Naruto may be a little OOC. So, for those wondering how Naruto fakes his death!

**Disclaimer:** If Naruto was mine majority of Akatsuki would not be dead 030. Sadly 'tis not because they are dead (a second time) after Kabuto's Edo Tensei. *sighs*

"Talking" _'Thoughts' _**"Biju speaking/shouting"**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Plans into motion, apologies unspoken**

Naruto glanced around warily from his position in the treetop. One month and Team 7 was finally back together on their first mission outside the borders of Konoha. His raven-haired teammate was still on strict probation but after several troublesome protests during council meetings (the civilians mainly), the Hokage decided to cut him some slack.

Since his discovery about his heritage (well, his mother's side anyway) Naruto had taken to attempting to use the tantō. He was able to unsheathe it upon a seconds notice and although his aim was good, his stance and technique were mediocre at most. He had taken it to strapping it on his left hand side in order to free some space on his back where he would place the tachi diagonally across is shoulders and lower back.

The blonde jinchūriki narrowed his eyes as he went over the plan again. If he wanted to convince his sensei and teammates of his death then he had to damn sure make it believable. It took several days of planning even through the use of kage-bunshin after he had found out it's informative properties to refine his plan. If everything went well, he would be waltzing out of Konoha by the end of the day. However, in order for it to succeed, he needed the help of one 'fur-ball' residing within his gut.

_Flashback no Jutsu_

_Naruto gazed warily at Sakura after meeting up for the first time in a few weeks. She held that look of guilt around her and hesitantly rose to meet his eye-level. He could see she had intended to apologize to him but upon seeing his new sword slung at his waist, couldn't help but blurt out. _

"_I never knew you could use a sword," The pink haired girl said. _

_Naruto simply frowned a little before grinning his trademark sunny smile. "Awesome isn't it Sakura-chan? I just started learning how to use it a few weeks ago!" _

"_That's…nice," she replied tentatively, Naruto had acted if nothing was wrong, had he possibly forgiven her? "You don't seem like the weapon type to me," Sakura joked half-heartedly, from the brief look of hurt upon Naruto's face before he resumed smiling again she could tell she had said the wrong thing. Inhaling deeply she started, "Look Naruto, I'm sorr-" _

"_Yo!" Kakashi appeared in a Shunshin (Body flicker) with Sasuke next to him. "I had to save a fish from drowning in the local pond before a bird ate it and the old lady next door accused me of murdering it so I had to stand trial and then I nearly forgot to pick up a certain raven after I left," He lied smoothly. _

_Naruto sighed, trust his teacher to show up late as usual. Team 7 headed out to the tower to collect a mission and no-one noticed as Sakura lingered behind- she still had not had the chance to say sorry. _

_Flashback no Jutsu: Kai!_

* * *

Kakashi watched his 'beloved' pupils through his visible eye. It was a simple, mid C-rank mission to escort the wife of a wealthy merchant across Hi no Kuni (Fire Country) to a minor town near the border. Unfortunately for him and his team, nothing ever seemed to right. At least, that is what he had convinced himself when they were attacked by hired missing-nins that were to use the wife as a hostage in exchange for his money. They were relatively low level and in this case, it was quantity over quality. However, they were severely outnumbered and when Naruto had fallen out of his position screaming bloody murder, Kakashi was sure things had indeed taken a turn for the worse.

"Kage-bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto cried as he dodged under an attacker and moved towards where Sakura was guarding Rushin Takamori, the merchant's wife. Moving swiftly from his position, Kakashi was able to knock out one nin by surprise and using the others' stunned reactions to his advantage, had buried two kunai into the skulls of a couple of unfortunate nins.

Sasuke had pulled off the trademark Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire release: Great fireball technique) and had incapacitated another nin with a well-placed kunai.

Kakashi watched out of the corner of his eye when he realized that Naruto was struggling to keep up with the attackers. He was being slowly forced to back up against the nearby bridge leading across a gaping chasm and was desperately trying to avoid the attacks. '_Crap, Naruto's in trouble,'_ Kakashi thought as he saw the blonde's predicament. He was being pushed to the edge of the cliff and had trouble keeping a good footing.

"Doton: Dochūbaku! (Earth release: Landslide)" The missing nin cried out as a large amount of rubble gathered from the earth and went crashing into Naruto. "ARGH!" Letting out a startled cry the genin made a futile attempt to grab at the side of the canyon. He clawed desperately at the earth as rapid bursts of chakra tore free from his hand as he tried to hold on for dear life. Naruto could feel his sight blur as a shuriken impaled his hand, forcing him to lose his grip as he plummeted towards the bottom.

The silver-haired man froze. '_No…NO!'_

Kakashi lifted his hitai-ate and Chidori'd the last of the shinobi sent to keep him distracted. "NARUTO!" He cried out as he bulldozed his way towards the blonde. Reaching out he created a Kage-bunshin and jumped over the rim. He let the bunshin hold his leg so he could try and catch the falling boy but to no avail. **"NARUTO!"**

He failed to realize the hidden grin on Naruto and the discreet Kawarimi (Replacement) handseal the blonde made as he fell.

'_Not another one!' _He desperately thought, '_Obito…I'm sorry, I failed you and Sensei…' _Dread and anger at himself filled him with rage. If only he had revealed the Sharingan from the beginning and been serious about the nins, then, perhaps Naruto wouldn't have been knocked off the edge of the canyon. He ran through a short set of three handseals: Ox, rabbit, monkey.

"Raikiri! (Lightning cutter)" He cried as he plunged his hand into the ninja's chest. Sakura watched, horrified from her position near Takamori as she turned her attention from Sasuke who was shooting off fireballs with Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire release: Phoenix Fire Technique) to her teacher as he pulled his hand from the deceased enemies chest.

But where was Naruto?

"God no…" She breathed in horror as she saw Kakashi gaze turn towards the cliff.

* * *

Tsunade sat as she stared down the pale, white stack of paper, a.k.a every Kage's worst enemy and arc nemesis. She grabbed a nearby ruler and a look of concentration etched onto her face, measured the ever-growing stack of inanimate matter. "It grew!" She shrieked in unhappiness. And she had finally thought she was done for the day too! (Little did she know the words 'finish' and 'early' did not exist in a Kage's dictionary)

"Hokage-sama!" Izumo slammed the door to her office open as he caught his breath.

'_Izumo…Isn't he meant to be watching the gates with Kotetsu?' _Tsunade thought. It was then her mind caught onto what it could mean. Was there an invasion? Barrage of enemy nin perhaps? "Izumo," she barked, irritated that her work was disturbed, "You better have a good reason to barge in."

"I-it's Naruto," the Chunin stuttered as the busty Hokage felt her blood run cold. "He's…" He trailed off, uncertain of how to break the news of Team 7's casualty to her, luckily for him he didn't have to continue as the door was literally ripped off its hinges and the alarmed Hokage rushing off to meet the blonde.

She was expecting a critically injured Naruto from what she could interpret the Chunin's words as, what she not expect was to be greeted by the sight of a bloody corpse. The neck was broken from what she could tell and the arms were bent at odd angles. Several deep gashes were visible through the torn orange clothing the figure bore but what made it so horrifying to the Hokage was the mop of blonde hair and the Shodaime Hokage no Kubikazari (First Hokage's necklace) lying around his neck. "No…" It was then her phobia of blood kicked in, causing the legendary medic to freeze. Her mind was thrown into overdrive and her brain was screaming at her body to move.

"Lady Tsuna..de…" Shizune's voice cut through the tense atmosphere, she had followed wondering what would have had her running out of the Tower like a bat out of hell. Those few words were enough to snap Tsunade out of her stupor as she felt her legs become weak and she collapsed to her knees one thought running thgouh her panic-filled head: No! Not another one! First Dan and Nawaki and now Naruto; Why were all her precious people being taken away from her?

Rushing up to examine the body of the fallen jinchūriki Shizune spoke first, "Kakashi…" she said in a soft voice, "Just what did happen…?"

"He-" The silver haired man struggled to find the appropriate words.

"Naruto's _gone_!" Sakura cried, face filled with guilt, "I-it's all my fault-If only I did more on the mission…I didn't even to get to apologize! All because I-"

"Sakura," Kakashi spoke, "If there's someone to blame it's _me._" Self-loathing filled his voice as he continued, "I _promised_ Obito and Sensei that I wouldn't let this repeat! And look! I'm a failure; what good is it if I can't even protect my allies?" '_Another forgotten name on the memorial…' _Sasuke stood silently beside his team, yet a glance at his face could tell he was confused and distraught by the sudden death of his possibly only friend.

"Well well, if it isn't the little _demon_ boy; one of his teammates finally get sick of the brat and kill him eh?" An onlooker sneered, backed up by his friends. By now, quite a crowd had gathered and many were _cheering_ at the prospect of the blonde's death.

Fury built up within the Hokage at the sheer and utter stupidity of the villagers. Naruto had given his life for this ungrateful bunch and here they were cheering? Despite what Naruto had sealed within him, could they not see past their hatred? "All of you, Shut. Up."

And retrospectively, that one oblivious civilian that couldn't keep their mouth shut after the Hokage's order really had it coming. He suffered several broken ribs from a ruthless punch to the stomach (non chakra enhanced much to relief) after he had shouted out "The Demon is dead!" He didn't seem to be waking up soon. No one noticed the lingering figure that disappeared soon after.

* * *

His plan had been going perfectly, in fact, he felt rather bad after seeing Tsunade's reaction to his 'death'. Naruto had taken that particular mission file and edited it from High C to Low B rank to Low-Mid C rank. It had the perfect location and after erasing some important details from the filed mission request such as: 'Possible chance of hired missing nins hired by opposition in an attempt to blackmail Shintaro Takamori' in order to present the perfect opportunity for his framed death. It seemed like a perfectly harmless C rank mission- and Naruto was confident that Kakashi-sensei would pick it.

The reason Naruto was so assured that his teacher would select the mission was mainly about the location. The area of Hi no Kuni that they were travelling to was literally on the border between Kusagakure (Village Hidden in the Grass) which joined Iwagakure and Konohagakure. After researching, Naruto had found out that this was close to the location Obito, his sensei's teammate, was killed. The mission itself was lavishly paid and unlike many other C ranks, had an extremely long completion period. This meant that when they reached the location, Kakashi was most likely to use the extra time given to see Obito's grave site- seeing as although his body was not found a small grave was constructed for him along the border of Kusagakure.

Naruto had done his research on the rich merchant Shintaro and knew the chances of hired shobi or bandits were highly likely. In a worst case scenario, he would form a bunch Kōdona Kage-Bunshin (Advanced Shadow-clones) and send them in disguises to act as hired bandits.

Kōdona Kage-Bunshin were one of a kind bunshin. He, although not on good terms with the giant fox, Kyuubi, was able to strike up a deal. Lend some chakra and they would be free of Konoha. Kyuubi held no affection for his prison yet he had witnessed his vessels treatment and considered it humiliating that Naruto never put up a fight; so despite the strained relationship they both held, it was a done deal. The Kōdona Kage-Bunshin was a normal Kage-Bunshin made with 30% of the biju's chakra. This, when merged correctly with Naruto's (much like the first stage of Rasengan) created an extremely durable and realistic clone that could produce a certain amount of blood and did not disperse unless a killing blow was dealt.

He sent a clone beforehand to the Kasai Kyōkoku (Fire Canyon) and cut the ropes securing one side of the bridge. This would ensure that his team stopped to attempt to find either a route around or a route across the canyon. It presented a perfect chance for any enemies to attack as the team was cornered and attention directed to escorting the merchant's wife safely. It was then Naruto would pretend to be driven off the edge of the canyon and the Doton Jutsu used although unexpected, helped cover up the handseal formed for Kawarimi (Body replacement) when he switched places with a Kōdona Kage-Bunshin hidden nearby.

The hardest part was making it seem plausible. Even with the Kōdona Kage-Bunshin, once a death blow was dealt, it would disperse. In order to bypass this, he placed the clone into a death-like state and kept a very small but concentrated part of Kyuubi's chakra to keep the bunshin in a coma but alive. The circulating chakra was well hidden and served to keep the bunshin alive but only by the barest standards. It would be bloody, and knowing his teacher, his team wouldn't just leave his 'body' there. Although the chasm was deep, it was not so steep that climbing down proved difficult and some chakra at the bottom of one's feet made easy work. He had nearly blown his cover to Kakashi when he had exchanged his crystal hanging around his neck for the fake one, knowing Tsunade would be able to tell the difference.

After his 'funeral' had been held, he would disperse the bunshin and flee Konoha. Yet he found himself sneaking into the morgue where his body was and taking the necklace. It was one of the first gifts from his precious people and the weight felt reassuring around his neck. The disappearance of the item (as Tsunade had not the heart to remove it from the fake Naruto) would be suspicious but seeing as the civilians and select ninja despised him, it would be suspected as a robbery from someone thinking to defile his corpse.

* * *

Corpse. The word made a shiver run unconsciously through Naruto's spine as he rummaged through the items hidden under the loose floorboard in his apartment.

"Who's there?"

'_Shit shit shit shit-' _The genin sharply inhaled.

Naruto faltered and quietly placed the board back before slipping outside the open window and hanging onto the ledge outside. He sent a kage-bunshin disguised as an ant to observe then report back who it was. It was Iruka. The kind academy teacher was the only person making Naruto think twice about abandoning Konoha. It was because of Iruka, the thought of leaving made him feel horrible- what _would_ Iruka think of him if he found out what Naruto had done? He reassured himself that his teacher would most likely not find out but a brief speculation about the 'what if's' added to the boy's growing guilt.

"I thought I saw Naruto for a second there…" Iruka whispered before chuckling sadly to himself. "I'm a fool, sending my pupil to his death." It was then Naruto realized. His sensei had sounded so hollow, broken.

The regret and remorse slammed full-force into the blonde as he gritted his teeth. _'I'm sorry,'_ he thought. _'But Konoha is better off without me and telling you would be too risky, I'm sorry…"_

The sound of footfalls receded and Naruto crept quietly back into his room. So Iruka had come to say his goodbye at Naruto apartment personally? He felt a warm sensation fill his chest as he remembered his task and hurriedly took his belongings – The scrolls and Tachi along with his hidden kunai and shuriken stash. Taking his clothes and food supplies proved much too risky and it would seem strange if his clothes and belongings suddenly went missing. He ruffled up his bed covers to make it look like he had haphazardly climbed out of bed and not bothered to fold it neatly in the morning before proceeding to the living room. The living room was sparsely furnished and Naruto eyed an empty glass of milk on the table. _'Best leave it there,' _He though before stepping out of his apartment. His hitai-ate was left with the fake bunshin and Naruto couldn't bring himself to dispose of it so he left it with the clone.

As he took one last look at his apartment door he cursed. He had spent so much time gloating over his plan for his death he hadn't planned what to do next: Like getting out of the village.

* * *

Naruto cautiously walked around in a modified version of his trademark 'Sexy no Jutsu'. It worked like a normal Henge (Transformation) except layered several layers of chakra over the user. This formed a solid Henge but had two downfalls. Firstly, it took a lot of chakra seeing as the user had to layer the Henge several times and secondly, it could only be used to transform into things of equal mass or higher. This was because unlike the normal E rank jutsu, it did not create a semi-genjutsu to deceive the sight, hence a person perceiving it as something else, but added different features and added form. The jutsu was ingenious but couldn't compress someone's physical body so the chosen transformation had to turn out large or equal in size to the user.

He was disguised (Ingeniously he thought) as a plan civilian girl with the typical brown hair and hazel eyes. And he was looking for makeup. He felt embarrassed he had to do this but it was a must do if he intended to get out of Konoha. (He had gotten into Konoha in a smiliar way but disposed of all 'evidence' as soon as he gained entrance.)

Contrary to what many people thought, Izumo and Kotsetsu were good guards. They were trained and could tell a Henge when they saw one without the need of a bloodline like Sharingan or Byakugan. This was because they were able to sense the chakra density within the air using a Jutsu and disrupt the flow when it came within radius.

Naruto had made it halfway out of the make-up store before a shout of surprise indicated he had been caught red handed. "Hey! You! Stop!"

The girl-who-was-really-a-guy didn't turn. Instead opting to flee into a nearby street and altered the Henge to resemble a street urchin. "Whatcha want missy? 'm just do'in no stealin' 'round here. Go check the 'ther r'oad 'stead of buggin lil' ol' me." He imitated in a heavy accent as a furious woman rounded the corner. He subconsciously leaned back further in his position against the wall to make sure the stolen goods were concealed safely.

Danger evaded, Naruto released the transformation and proceeded to rub in the concealing cream onto his cheeks, covering his prominent whisker marks. He tipped the entire bottle of hair dye onto his hair and rubbed it in vigorously before using some gel to make sure it was flattened and not as spiky before placing in the light brown contacts and taking off his jacket, leaving a black t-shirt underneath. He replaced his orange pants for a dark grey pair he found as spares in his 'hidden ninja stash' and sealed them in a scroll. Throwing away the bright pieces of clothing were easily spotted and likely to cause suspicions.

'_Just a bit more, and Konoha will become nothing but distant memories,_' Naruto convinced himself. _'Forgetting is always better than remembering and never living it down.'_

* * *

-Konoha Gates-

"Name?" Izumo inquired.

"Kujisawa Kintoki," the bald man gruffy replied as he gave a brief tug on the reigns and led the horses to plod slowly on.

"Eh, sir, could you please- uh, wait?"

"What now?" The traveller asked irritated.

"Are you with the boy on the back?" Izumo questioned as he indicated to a brown-haired youth sitting unhappily on the back of the cart.

"Leave him be," the man replied, "Boy's name is Hakuren Fukumoto, says his mother's sick and in the next town, poor lad's been looking for a way to meet his parents and was plannin' on walking before I lent him a ride."

'_Strange,' _The chunin thought, it was unusual that such a young boy would travel by himself. He turned towards the boy before speaking, "Why do you want to meet your parents?"

"My mum's sick an' so dad rushed her off to the next town 'cuz he said she might not make it and the medicine stuff she takes can only be found in that area. He still ain't come back yet so I'm goin' ta meet him in case something happens…" 'Fukumoto' lied while keeping an unhappy façade. "I-I hope she's alright...mum's never been well, always coughing up blood 'n stuff." He added a few sniffs and watched as Izumo's eyes softened.

"Do you have a travel pass?" Izumo asked uncertainly.

"Whazzat? I don't have one then." The boy answered truthfully before his eyes started to water. "D-does that mean that if I don't have this 'travel pass thing' I can't meet dad and mum? But what if something has happened to them! I won't know if m' mum is alright!"

Izumo started to panic, he didn't want the boy to break out in tears but he couldn't pass him without a Travel Passport for clarification and safety reasons.

"Guard-san," the man started politely, "I'd let the kid through if I were you. Never can be too sure what happens nowadays with all the things that could happen. If you want list him down as travelling with me."

Naruto inwardly cheered. With a little 'innocent' appeal to the traveller, the man had simply gone along with his heartbreaking story and was even vouching for him as well as offering him a ride!

Izumo heaved a sigh and reluctantly let the traveller and boy through the gates. 'Fukumoto huh? I can't seem to recall anyone by that last name,' Izumo thought absently, after several more minutes of racking his brain for anyone with a similar name, he gave up. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for our hero of the story, he forgot that there was a Travel Log containing all the names of people coming in and out of Konoha lying nearby- Izumo had failed to realize Hakuren Fukumoto was never a real person in the first place.

* * *

A/N: And done! I apologize for the sucky, anticlimactic fight scene and I felt it moved a bit too quickly for my tastes. There's the explanation of how he framed his death and now he's finally leaving Konoha. Thanks for the reviews too, they make me feel all warm and fuzzy haha;; There's also what I thought the theory behind Naruto's 'Sexy' no Jutsu was. Kasai Kyōkoku and Kōdona Kage-Bunshin belong to me, made up from my horrible Japanese vocab. I do realize some parts are a bit confusing too so I'll work on fixing those things too so for now, bye. (Review please?) VOTE!

~Nhazun


	4. Chapter 4: Us Shinobi of Kiri

**Title:** Legacy Namikaze

**Summary:** Post Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Upset by the treatment of Konoha, Naruto decides to cut his losses and framed his death on a mission. A few years later, Akatsuki is on the move- along with a mysterious organization led by a boy holding an eerie resemblance with the deceased blonde. Parings undecided.

**A/N:** I'm biased to a couple of characters because I think they need more screen time so I'll be introducing some. Hurhur. (Remember the voting is still open so VOTE!) So here's another thing: **Should Itachi remain with Akatsuki or ally with Naruto eventually? **This chapter was a pretty (actually really) hard one to start off…and I re-did part of Chapter 1*sighs*

Anon-san: Your question on why the scrolls were there will be answered when Naruto gains access to Minato's message to him. (^w^)

**Disclaimer:** The closest I got was the Naruto volume on my shelf…*sighs* And has anyone read chapter 592?

"Talking" _'Thoughts' _**"Biju speaking/shouting"**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Us shinobi of Kiri**

Naruto cursed his stupidity. Everything was going along nicely, he had just hitched (another) free ride to Nami no Kuni (Wave Country) and was only a few days away. The key word, being was. Now he wasn't. He was stuck in the middle of nowhere without a map and only the clothes on his back and sealed items with only a few ration bars. Ration bars for shinobi, as Naruto had not been ashamed to shout out rather loudly when he had first tasted one, tasted like cardboard and frankly, could make seasoned shinobi all around the nations gag. It was crap and if not for the nourishing properties it provided, Naruto would have kindly disposed of the food. (That is, if one could call the horrible substance food…)

But how had he gotten himself into this mess? His kindness. When Naruto had woken up from his doze atop a large haystack where he had hitched a ride on, he had not expected to see a boy face down in a nearby ditch. From his high vantage point, it seemed that the person was dead but a slight twitch indicated otherwise. The blonde had trouble deciding- should he help the boy or continue on as if nothing happened? He knew asking the farmer to stop would be futile as he had indicated to the extra passenger that he was on a tight schedule and had to make the delivery on time. Damn him and his soft heart.

Approaching the boy Naruto could see him features clearly up close. He resembled someone around his age and had a head of light grey hair. There were two other prominent features on the boy. There was a stitched scar running from the bottom of his left eye down to his jaw and a Kirigakure (Village Hidden by Mist) hitai-ate. "Oh." So he was a Kiri shinobi. But what was he doing here in Hi no Kuni and not Mizu no Kuni (Land of Water)?

Naruto was cut out of his musings when the grey-haired boy let out a soft groan. Although there were no visible wounds on him, it was clear he was in pain. Summoning as much knowledge on Medical jutsu as possible, Naruto concluded the shinobi had suffered chakra depletion. Did his team abandon him here?

* * *

Yagura felt horrible. Every joint ached and his head throbbed with an excruciating pain. His vision remained blurry and unfocused as he recalled his capture by Akatsuki. The Sanbi Jinchūriki closed his eyes as he scowled. Madara. He had been controlled the entire time as Mizukage and helped to create Chigiri no Sato (Village of the Bloody Mist). Although some Kiri shinobi suspected him or being manipulated; his rule as the Yondaime Mizukage had sown discord and wreaked havoc amongst Kiri with the Bloodline Purges.

Once he had 'outlived his usefulness' as Madara had put it, he had been taken to an Akatsuki hideout where the Sanbi was extracted. It was painful and Yagura had not expected to survive. The Mizukage was one of the only jinchūriki to fully master their biju. Usually, a biju is so closely intertwined within a jinchuriki's soul that when the extraction process happened, the soul/lifeline was pulled out along with the biju. Things worked differently for the Sanbi vessel, because of his close relation with the living mass of chakra, it was through the biju's will that it allowed itself to be taken without the use of too much force. Simply put, the Sanbi willingly let itself be extracted from its vessel and therefore lessened the strain placed upon Yagura's soul, leaving it intact.

From the location he had been dumped in it was obvious one of the more oblivious members of the S rank organization had been left to take care of the 'corpse'. And to think they didn't bother checking if he was alive.

Thus he found himself in his current predicament: A blue-eyed blonde staring carefully at him.

* * *

"Hey, why're you all the way out here? You do know Kiri is ages away right, and why the heck do you look like shit?" Naruto asked the Kiri shinobi who stared back confused. "Oh right! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, oh wait damn, not meant to use my real name I mean my name is Hakurin Fukamoto…or was it Rakuren Fukamato? Wait a sec..right, Hakuren Fukumoto! Nice to meet you."

When the strange boy seemed to show no signs of comprehending the blonde's unnecessary babble, Naruto sighed. "Your. Name." He explained rather frustrated at the lack of response the stranger (still immobile on the ground) gave, or in this case, did not give.

The boy seemed to frown before appearing to be contemplating over something. He managed a choked, "…Yagura," as his parched throat prevented him from saying much more.

It was thankful that Naruto had a bottle of water on hand and gave up the liquid before the Kiri nin promptly fainted. "Damn it."

The blonde was stumped. So now he had a name. But he still sorely lacked a few things. Namely transport and supplies to get to Wave. Now he was stuck with someone named Yagura and had to build somewhere suitable for shelter, after all, if it rained, Naruto didn't want to be caught in the downpour. Seeing the surrounding trees, he created several Kage-bunshin and got to work. By the time he was done, the nin still hadn't woken up so Naruto half dragged half carried the unconscious boy to the leafy hut he had hurriedly constructed. It was no bigger than 4 by 4 metres but for now, it would have to do.

Naruto prodded the hut's other inhabitant. This was getting annoying, he didn't want to keep waiting and waiting for the boy to wake up, but the shinobi seemed to be pretty tired after whatever ordeal he went through. Naruto had laid his staring hooked staff with what looked like a flower on the end, it looked pretty deadly. "This isn't getting me anywhere." Naruto told himself as he retreated to the furthest part of the hut and took up a meditative position. He need to have a talk with the furball.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a poorly illuminated sewer with water dripping down from stray pipes and the water level up to his ankles. At the end of the corridor lay a large cage with a paper seal restraining the mighty biju within the confines of its prison.

"_So the jailor finally decides to visit his prisoner I see."_ A booming voice echoed. _"Tell me boy, what do you want now?"_

"I came to tell you that we're out of Konoha and I plan to travel to Wave."

"_And? Do not be ridiculous boy, I have access to your memories and knew this, what motive do you have for coming here?" _The voice asked menacingly as said figure stepped out of the shadows to reveal a large fox.

"I'll be honest with you," Naruto replied, "I'm weak. And now I'm on my own and I have to fend for myself."

"_And? What does this have to do with me?"_

The blonde took a deep breath. "I came to accept the proposal you gave to me earlier."

The fox's grin grew so wide one could see the razor sharp teeth dripping with bloodlust. _"Oh? You were adamant against it last time, what makes you so sure the deal is still up for grabs?"_

Naruto let an equal grin cover his face. "You would do anything to be released into the open again, yet that you know I cannot and will not do. But letting you share my senses is something you will not be willing to pass, right Kyuu?"

The Kyuubi snarled, _"Boy, I do not take kindly to being addressed in such a manner. My name is Kurama, yet you mortals insist on such stupidly foolish titles to biju do they not? It may be true I yearn to feel what it is like outside again but what does one such as yourself expect in return?"_

"Enhanced senses. That is all I want in return."

"_Boy, your stupidity amuses me. If the seal is altered so I am able to experience what you do through your senses, your senses are bound to become better with the influx of my chakra. Instead, I shall teach you about something you may find interesting. Think of it as a…gift of appreciation we are out of that hell hole Konoha."_

"A gift?" Naruto asked confused.

Kurama let out a deep laugh. _"You should be thankful I see you worthy of teaching this. I shall be imparting knowledge to you on Onmyōton (Ying-Yang release) which is the basics to all ninjutsu and non-elemental manipulation, power and control over Ying energy (Spiritual and mental energy) and Yang energy (Physical energy). Tell me, how much do you know about why you are the vessel of me?"_

Naruto stared. "There wasn't much of a reason apart from the fact that I was born on that day and that my mother, Uzumaki Kushina was the former vessel for you."

"_No, it was also because of traits rare and unique to you alone. The Hakke no Fūin Shiki (Eight Trigram Divination Sealing Style) was designed to be reinforced by Ying energy. You were born with an unusually large amount of Ying energy, so much that it outweighed your Yang energy. But when the seal was activated, it drew on your Ying making it less than your Yang. Usually people would have around the same amount and in some cases, people may have a little more Ying. Your scenario was different. You have an overabundance of Yang energy and it showed through in your attitude: too much energy and an inability to sit still."_

Naruto knit his brows. "Why are you telling me this?"

Kurama smiled but on the biju it looked like a foreboding smirk_. "I'm telling you because once the seal is altered, it will weaken it and pull on your Ying energy to keep it steady, resulting in a further depletion. What I plan on doing is changing it so that it doesn't happen. Along with the enhanced senses, my chakra may flood into your coils, and in the process, possibly crippling your puny mortal system. I will not be tolerating a weak vessel so I will instruct you on how to construct a seal within your mindscape here so it will purify my chakra before it goes into yours."_

"…Interesting. And how exactly do you plan on constructing a seal when there is nothing to write with or on?" Naruto questioned, "Because looking around I see an abundance of things to use." He added sarcastically.

"_It is your mindscape so figure out how to conjure up a brush and ink you fool."_

"You and your witty replies," Naruto muttered under his breath as he set to work.

_"I heard that."_

* * *

When Naruto broke out of his meditative trance Yagura was awake and silently observing the blonde-haired teen. "You're finally up. I took it upon myself to oh-so-graciously provide some shelter, it isn't much per say but beggars can't be choosers, especially since I don't know where we are at the moment, near Wave I suppose. You still haven't told me who you are and I know nothing about you apart from the fact you're a shinobi from Kiri and named Yagura, strange, do you have a second name?"

Yagura narrowed his eyes at the boy. "I don't have a second name."

"Well then at least tell me who you are." Naruto insisted.

"I am the Yondaime Mizukage," Yagura paused before correcting himself, "Former, now that I am meant to be dead."

"…Come again?"

"Do I look like I am lying boy?"

"N-no, just a bit…stunned is all. I mean, you look my age-"

"I am 24 despite my appearances." Yagura replied bluntly.

"Ah, that explains it but _if_ you really are- I mean were the Mizukage, what are you doing out here? I mean, it's not every day you find a guy face down lying in a ditch in the middle of nowhere right?"

"You are a Jinchūriki correct?"

At this Naruto froze and his hand hovered over his kunai pouch as he gazed warily at the shinobi. How did he know? "What gives you that impression?"

"When you were meditating there were visible wisps of demonic chakra surrounding you."

"No ordinary person, or ninja for that matter would be able to draw that conclusion, how do you know?" Naruto probed, confirming the former Mizukage's suspicions, so he was a jinchūriki then- but of which biju?

"I assure you I am not any ordinary ninja. You find it strange someone like me is found in the middle of nowhere yet you are suspicious as well. Why would someone, a jinchūriki of all people be wandering alone using another persona?" Yagura countered.

"It's a long story-"

"I have time, in my condition it is evident I will not be heading off anytime soon."

"And why should I tell you?" Naruto asked, distrust discernible on his face.

At this the elder gave an inaudible sigh. "Because I am number 3."

"…What the fu-"

* * *

A/N: CLIFFHANGER FTW~ I didn't plan to cut the chapter off so short but I decided to put the rest of the things into another chappy. Yes, there is very little mentioned about Yagura so I added some minor changes. It was said that when Akatsuki captured the Three Tails, it was wild with no vessel even though Yagura was the last known vessel for it. I also do realise it may not be possible for something like this to happen after an extraction ritual but I altered it to fit this story. It is AU after all. And the theory behind the Hakke no Fūin Shiki was total bullcrap made by yours truly me so because details relating to the seal are so few I made up my own theory. Updates after this might prove to be slower because holidays for me are ending /cries (How come you fav the fic but don't review? D: Go go go!)

…And vote!

~Nhazun


	5. Chapter 5: Us Shinobi of Kiri 2

**Title:** Legacy Namikaze

**Summary:** Post Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Upset by the treatment of Konoha, Naruto decides to cut his losses and framed his death on a mission. A few years later, Akatsuki is on the move- along with a mysterious organization led by a boy holding an eerie resemblance with the deceased blonde. Parings undecided.

**A/N:** I should be doing my homework but I'll fail anyways, *sighs* anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter. (Go back and vote if you haven't already!) **There is a timeskip of a few months from chapter 4. **

**Disclaimer:** I wouldn't be on fanfiction if I owned Naruto.

"Talking" _'Thoughts' _**"Biju speaking/shouting"**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Us Shinobi of Kiri 2**

An explosion threw debris flying as chunks of earth were torn away. Two figures stood assessing the damage dealt; or rather, one was standing, the other flung carelessly to the ground by the forced of the explosion. The local bandits were no more. One might have thought it overkill to blow up half a small town dealing with a gang of vicious bandits but for Naruto and Yagura, it was the norm. "Flashy my ass," the taller (albeit only slightly) of the two muttered, running a hand through his unnaturally coloured grey-white hair.

"You alright ol' man?" Yagura scoffed as Naruto offered him a hand but took it anyway and heaved himself off the ground.

Brushing himself off he scowled, "Don't call me that, I'm not that old and it's plain out offensive." In reply the blonde grinned, "Eh, but you were so persistent before in emphasising the age gaps, saying that you weren't a child."

The elder heaved a sigh. "We should be heading back to the Mayor's place to get the money." After a few seconds he added, "If we didn't blow it apart courtesy of _someone_."

"Hey!" Naruto cried out as he ran to catch up with Yagura, "He said that it was fine if we accidentally damaged a couple of buildings while eliminating the bandits!"

"So much for trying to keep to ourselves and _not_ attract attention…" "OI!"

The two headed off in the direction of the remaining buildings, it had been a few months since Naruto had first met Yagura and after several days of travelling, they had grown to appreciate each other's' company. Wandering from town to town, making sure to avoid the larger towns, Yagura in his 'infinite knowledge and wisdom' as Naruto had dubbed it, would tell the blonde of things he had experienced and help him with kata's and stances. Naruto had improved vastly with the aid of someone who fully devoted their attention to him and after several hours of moaning and whining about not wanting to go back over the basics, Yagura had smacked him over the head and lectured the younger boy about how vital they were. Needless to say, the Kyuubi jinchūriki never questioned Yagura's authority when it came to shinobi arts.

Although Naruto had originally planned to head to Wave to visit Tazuna and his family, the plan was later scrapped after Yagura had said they needed more supplies. And to buy supplies, money was needed, along with a place to buy it from. So they had stumbled upon a rather secluded and minor town where they had taken a couple of odd jobs in order to earn some money. Despite the slight detours taken so far, Naruto was not complaining, in fact, he was grateful that he had come upon his new-found 'mentor' and was starting to think that abandoning his original plan was proving more fruitful. He now had a travelling companion and sensei. After hearing of Yagura's former tenant, Naruto had been educated on other jinchūriki and biju, it was that that spurred Naruto onwards with new-found vigour to specialise in one section of the Shinobi Arts- Fuinjutsu (Sealing).

* * *

Naruto's attire had taken a rather drastic turn compared to his typical orange monstrosity and wore a short-sleeved fishnet shirt with a black sleeveless trench coat over the top along with black shinobi pants and belts slung across his waist full with scrolls and tanto and tachi. He kept his kunai and shuriken pouch strapped either-side of his legs within easy reach and wore a white cough-mask over the lower area of his face, concealing the whisker marks. He used a blank hitai-ate with a black strap and used it like a bandana to keep his hair tame and less prominent, tying the back into a small ponytail that left his bangs loose.

"Hey," Naruto murmured to the person beside him, "We're heading to Wave now right? It doesn't…y'know, bring up any unwanted memories does it?" After Naruto had found out about the biju formerly sealed inside his friend/comrade, Yagura had found himself spilling out things he had not uttered a word about to anyone in a rather uncharacteristic attitude. The betrayal, how he was manipulated by a masked man wielding the Sharingan and Akatsuki; the deadly S-rank organization that although had yet to show a very serious threat, had many criminals as members, including his ex-teammate's (He winced, buried memories of Konoha resurfacing unwillingly) psychotic family murdering bastard of a twisted brother, Itachi, after him.

Yagura felt the urge to facepalm but he would never be caught doing such a thing in public, instead, he opted for a short, "Yes." Obviously, Naruto was never one for tact and it showed in his mannerisms and actions, although, he had to admit the blonde could be very sneaky at times, like when he stole the last of their food, which was coincidentally miso ramen…the instant type of course but any ramen was good in the blonde's eyes.

Said blonde rolled his eyes, why was he always stuck with the bastards that replied and communicated with monosyllables? At least it was better than receiving a grunt (Sasuke). And in addition, Naruto was thankful his mentor was not perverted like his former team 7 Jounin and affectionately dubbed 'Ero-sennin'- where in this case, the name was relatively self-explanatory.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence, each caught up in their own thoughts, and on Naruto's part, actions. After being introduced to the concept of elemental manipulation, Yagura in his 'all knowing Kage ways' had deuced that Naruto was of Wind nature and had traces of Lightning that would hopefully manifest as a secondary element. So the blonde passed his time trying to add an element to the rasengan (as he had perfected it singlehandedly but it still took longer to form) and incorporate his wind chakra into his fighting. Perhaps he could use it similarly to Asuma's blades except with his tachi and tanto. He glanced over at Yagura to see the usual impassive façade. 'Probably thinking of what to do after we go to Wave…or what we're having for dinner tonight.' He added mentally as an afterthought.

The spinning orb lost control and the blades of rotating chakra fluctuated wildly before fizzing out, unsuccessful. Naruto scowled.

* * *

"The Great Naruto Bridge." Yagura read out loud, much to the embarrassment of the blonde teen beside him but no-one paid the pair much attention as many tourists had come around the area after the end of Gato's rule. "So, why did you want to come here?" He questioned.

"This is the country that my…old team 'saved' during a mission of ours, I have a close friend here called Tazuna, a drunk bridge builder and the person who constructed this bridge. I wanted to drop by and see how he and his family were coping but I'm stumped at how to do it because I'm meant to be dead, the again, so are you." Naruto gave a chuckle before dragging Yagura across the bridge but instead of heading through the now prosperous town, he took a concealed trail that lead through the thick foliage.

After several minutes of walking, the trees parted towards the end of the path, revealing the edge of a cliff that overlooked the sea. What caught Yagura's attention though was the sight of two hastily made wooden crosses protruding at the highest vantage point. Naruto smiled softly as he gave a polite bow towards the graves before speaking, "These are the graves of Haku and-"

"Momochi Zabuza."

"Eh?" Confused at how Yagura had known the name of the second grave, Naruto cocked his head to the side, waiting for an explanation.

"His sword, Kubikiribōchō (Decapitating Sword) had a very unique appearance, just like his fellow swordsman. He was part of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinini Shū (Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist), before he defected after trying to kill the Mizukage in a coup d'état." Yagura explained before answering the question Naruto had yet to voice but it was pretty obvious judging from his facial expressions. "And yes…the Mizukage at the time was me."

"Oh." Realization dawned upon the blonde. "You know, you shouldn't blame yourself for something you couldn't prevent…"

"Prevent? I was Mizukage at the time and controlled or not it was still me who did it. I'm not blaming myself but I simply regret some things Naruto Yet I have to admit being curious, you were a genin when you took the mission correct? So why would Konoha send a fresh-out of the academy graduates on a mission that included several missing nin?"

The blonde had the decency to look sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head as he started to recount the events that took place.

* * *

Naruto's heart was pounding as he raced through the forest looking for Yagura. He had gotten out of the hotsprings and grabbed a snack at the inn before deciding to train; and what better place to train than in a secluded forest nearby? In all his stupidity he had forgotten to leave a note telling his companion where he was headed, and now, he was completely and utterly lost.

He had finally gotten the concept and theory down with the help of Kage-bunshin of his Uzu-ken, a fighting style based off the original style his mum had invented. The strikes were fast and precise, aiming for weaknesses and exploiting them with the use of agility and flexibility. Uzu-ken had incorporated needle fine blades of chakra that shredded anything down to the molecular level being constantly expelled in a fine layer on his body and perpetually circulating in a whirlpool motion. He had yet to test it out properly apart from the few failed prototypes which were luckily done with clones and not him in person, if not it would have been extremely painful to say the least. He had utilized the knowledge learnt from Kyuubi about Ying and Yang release to create a jutsu that allowed him to closely manipulate chakra more efficiently and precisely than most skilled shinobi. It was this that allowed Naruto to come up with his next great discovery: The ability to draw seals with one's finger using chakra.

Unfortunately for him, it didn't change the fact that he was lost and clueless. He briefly considered busting down every tree within radius to define where his location was but figured no-one would be very happy about that. It was then an idea came to him. "AH! Ero-sennin once told me that toads could track people from their chakra signature which means that I can send one to find Yagura to bring him to me so I can get out!"

Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey and Ram. Naruto seamlessly formed the hand seals before slamming his hand down onto the ground and watching as black ink-like markings twisted and curled across the earth before a cloud of smoke exploded from the centre of the seals and runes to reveal a vivdly coloured orange and blue toad. It was the perfect size to fit on Naruto's head and hopefully willing to aid his summoner.

"Gamakichi! Long time no see!" Naruto greeted the toad.

"Naruto! What would you like this time around? Hopefully not ramen related though." Gamakichi replied before listening to what Naruto had to say. So the blonde was lost and he needed to find this 'Yagura' person for him? Seemed easy enough even though tracking was not his area of expertise. After memorising the chakra signature, Gamakichi took off and soon found the 'target' staring at several turtles in an aquatic shop.

"I should buy it…no, there'd be no place to keep it- but it looks really lonely, maybe I should buy it as a pet, or maybe I shouldn't…" The toad heard the grey-haired boy mutter to himself and the amphibian snickered under his breath.

"Hey you!" Said boy turned his head to face the frog.

"You must be a summon animal since you can talk. Who sent you?" He asked suspiciously.

"Naruto sent me to fetch'ya! He's lost and being wandering around for ages!" The toad chirped enthusiastically as he hopped off in the direction of the stranded blonde, not glancing back to see if Yagura was following him.

* * *

"You shouldn't run off without leaving a note of some sort. That was foolish of you Naruto." Yagura scolded Naruto. "I looked about for hours trying to find your incompetent butt only to find you lost!"

Naruto pouted in annoyance, he had said he was sorry already! "…I forgot to leave a note." He mumbled anyway, Yagura sighed as he decided to drop it and move on to another subject.

"You never told me you could summon." He stated, more of a questions than a fact.

"You never asked so I didn't say anything." Naruto answered petulantly. "It's not like it really matters though, because at least I got back safe."

"It does." Yagura said, tone much more serious which brought Naruto's attention to him. "A summoning contract is broken when one of the contractor dies and apart from you, Jiraya is the only alive toad summoner."

"And?" The blonde asked with growing impatience.

"You don't get it do you? That means that since Jiraya is currently in possession of the toad contract, he can see all the contractor names, and if yours is still untouched where you signed it, then he'll know you're alive when by all means, you should be dead."

Comprehension dawned on the blonde as he gaped. "…Crap."

* * *

A/N: A very short chapter this time, sorry. No action in this chapter but I promise there will be in the next one! I hope Yagura isn't too OOC but little info is on him so I'm doing it how I'd think he would act. And yes, Jiraya does know Naruto is alive and he will get some time in the next chapter as well as another character! And review please!


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